Voyager is in the Delta Quadrant at co-ordinates 18-Mark-205-Mark-47 (60,000 light-years from the Alpha Quadrant). After increasing the range of the astrometric sensors, Seven locates an alien relay station, establishes a link, and detects a Starfleet vessel in the Alpha Quadrant. The crew use the relay network to send a message to the ship, but the transmission degrades before it gets through. With time running out before the link is lost, their only other option is to send a holographic datastream and they therefore despatch the Doctor. When he returns via the same method, he reports that he has briefed Starfleet.

When the original message degrades as it goes through the alien relay system, they decide that a holographic datastream would have a better chance of getting through. Since there is no time to reconfigure the message for the datastream, they use the Doctor. Torres sends an initiation code along with the Doctor so he will be activated immediately.

Voyager's medical library master file has all the classic medical texts from Gray's Anatomy to Leonard McCoy's Comparative Alien Physiology. Dr McCoy is a regular cast member in [TOS], [TOS]-era films, and appears briefly in one [TNG] episode.

The Doctor has had two lessons in piloting shuttlecraft on the holodeck.

Aboard USS Prometheus the EMH Mark 2 tells the Doctor that according to Starfleet security protocol 28, subsection D, in the event of hostile alien takeover, the EMH is to deactivate and wait for rescue. The Doctor does not heed this security protocol when on Voyager in, say, [#42 and #43 Basics].

While in the Alpha Quadrant the Doctor speaks directly with Starfleet Headquarters and briefs them on what has happened to the ship. Voyager was declared officially lost fourteen months ago.